Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Herbalife from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson reissued a neutral rating and set a $9.50 price target on shares of Herbalife in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Herbalife from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Herbalife currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $10.70.

Herbalife Price Performance

NYSE HLF opened at $11.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30 and a beta of 1.25. Herbalife has a 1-year low of $6.68 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.76.

Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.12. Herbalife had a negative return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 2.70%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Herbalife will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Herbalife

In related news, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza purchased 7,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.65 per share, for a total transaction of $74,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 93,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $993,421.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Donal L. Mulligan purchased 30,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.65 per share, for a total transaction of $289,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $579,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Juan Miguel Mendoza bought 7,000 shares of Herbalife stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.65 per share, for a total transaction of $74,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 93,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $993,421.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 42,500 shares of company stock worth $418,485 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,561,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,759,000 after purchasing an additional 43,452 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 26,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,000. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT raised its stake in shares of Herbalife by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Iridian Asset Management LLC CT now owns 1,468,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,411,000 after purchasing an additional 483,635 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Herbalife in the fourth quarter valued at about $165,000.

About Herbalife

Herbalife Ltd. provides health and wellness products in North America, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, and the Asia Pacific. It offers products in the areas of weight management; targeted nutrition; energy, sports, and fitness; outer nutrition; and literature and promotional items.